A few months ago, I wrote a silly blog called “A Million Things that Bug Me”. I found it interesting that out of all of my blog posts that one gets the most hits…because of people googling “things that bug me”. I kind of wondered why people would google that phrase. Perhaps they are always irritated at something. Perhaps they like being irritated at things, and wanted to find more things to be irritated at. Well, I decided to write a reprise. Here are a million (or so) things that I love (in no particular order).- My husband Dave. He’s way cooler that anyone I know. For serious.- This cat that lives in my house…maybe you’ve heard me talk about him…his name is Bigsby…he’s white…kind of fat…has a bit of a temper…- Romantic Music. No, I don’t mean like “Unchained Melody”, but rather music from from the 19th century from composers like Chopin, Debussy, Liszt…and so on.- Bread. Not wonder bread. But real, crusty on the outside, soft on the inside, stone baked bread. There is no other way.- Cameras. I want a new one. And when I get that one, something else will come out that I want. And so on…it’s the battle of technology.- Gardening. I love growing things. This is very exciting to me.- On the topic of plants…I LOVE flowers. I must always have cut flowers in my house. I must. Must.- History. I was always a bit of a nerd when it came to this. I’m not very good at learning it, but I try…I really do. Right now I am reading a book called “The Inheritance of Rome: A History of Europe from 400-1000AD” Obviously, a book about the Dark Ages…a period in history that I’m particularly interested in.- Gene Kelly Musicals. How can you not love these? His talent always amazes me. If you have never seen one of his films, go pick up Singin’ in the Rain. It’s his most famous film by far. A classic.- Those very grand paintings from the 16th century. I always had been a fan of paintings during the Renaissance, but when I saw them in the Louvre in Paris….I fell in love with them. Particularly those of Marie de’ Medici painted by Peter Paul Rubens. They are epic, larger than life paintings depicting stages of the Queens (Marie) life. Amazing.- Anyone who knows anything about me knows I can’t live without Jazz music. It’s not even a possibility. - My Bunnies. They are very cute. They poop a lot, but I still love them. :)- Vintage clothes. I wish all my clothes were vintage.- Recycling old things and making new things. I like to be crafty. But not crafty in the evil, conniving sense.- Star Trek. Your life is not complete until you have seen every episode. I’m working on it.- To be honest, most sci-fi I’m a fan of. Star Wars, Stargate, Star Trek…(hmm…a theme here?)- England. I will go back. And it will be soon.- Charlie Winston. Ever heard of him? Probably not. But his music is INCREDIBLE. It’s the first time in a long time that I have been totally blown away by a new album. Buy his newest, “Hobo”. It’ll knock your socks off.- Black nail polish. It’s not just for goths anymore.- Marc Chagall. Seriously one of my favourite painters. He painted the ceiling of the Paris Opera House, and it’s one of the most unique pieces of art.

…I think this list could go on forever. I started it about two hours ago, and have been adding one thing after another while I work on other projects.I hope you get the picture. There may be a few things that bug me, but there are many more things that I love.

Today, Dave and I went out to Clayburn Village Tea Shop for lunch/tea. I was craving something that felt like England. The most exciting part, was in their candy shop, they had a whole host of British Candy bars that we used to be addicted to when we were at the school. Back in the days when we totally rocked the snack bar.

This week Dave & I, and Taryn and Matt (two other people from the Kings Lodge) headed out on a little tour of the South coast of England. It was meant to be a road trip….

….but as soon as we got to Swanage and saw the flat that was being lent to us, well, we stayed put.We did get to do a little bit of road-trippin’, although minimal.

Sunday evening we arrived in Reading, where Matt lives. We stayed the night at his house, and then left early the next morning.

Our first stop was Stonehenge, where we did a little audio guided tour of the famous monument. I’d like to say more about it–I really would–but to be honest, it’s exactly what it looks like. Not that it’s not cool. I was stoked out of my brains to see Stonehenge. But anything I could tell you now about Stonehenge would be something you already know anyway. So lets move on to our next stop.After Stonehenge, it was a quick jaunt to Salisbury to see the cathedral. It was probably my favorite cathedral of England so far. The grounds are amazing and huge. It was a beautiful and warm day (in England!) so we just hung out, laying on the grass on the grounds eating lunch (and Dave smoked his new pipe). *Interesting Fact* Salisbury Cathedral houses one of the first copies of the Magna Carta. It was very cool to see.Next stop was Corfe Castle. This was close to where we were staying in Swanage (about a 20 minute drive). Corfe was built in the 1100′s, and was an important fortress in it’s early history. Later it became a popular “hunting lodge” for kings. It later went under siege during the English civil war in the 1600′s, where it has been in ruins since. We really enjoyed seeing this castle. With the castle in ruins, it’s more like visiting a park, with the most amazingly elaborate grounds. We spent a good portion of the day there just relaxing on the grass.

*side note* Later in the day I found a friendly cat, which made the day pretty much perfect.

The rest of the week was spent in Swanage (which has a serious lack of Swans–strange) It’s right on the Jurassic coast of England. There are loads of chalk cliffs around, and we did some walks along them, which was quite beautiful, but a little scary at times! A couple times I wanted to get some closer shots of the rock, but couldn’t bring myself to get that close to the edge. Eek.

The week closed with Sunday roast back in Reading with Matt’s family, and then bidding farewell to our friends at The Kings Lodge!

Shall I be poetic & deep?The sun has set beautifully on our last day at The Kings Lodge.What a powerful metaphor to use for the our TKL finale.….*shudder* I feel lame.Today was the last day in our little room and I must admit, it was quite lazy. Got up at 10:30 and putted around till about 2:00…We did some casual cleaning, and now the evening is free. Lately our group has been addicted to the game “Apples to Apples” It’s amazing. I think we might do that tonight.The photo above is of the sunset today. In every place that we have stayed in England, Dave has done a picture called “View from the Window” I did this one today as our last view from Room 5, Second Floor at The Kings Lodge.

This year, part of the schooling that Dave and I are doing included spending a week in London working with homeless at a church in Earls Court. Dave got right in there chatting with all the guests, but my contribution came when one of the guests asked if someone could perform “Amazing Grace”. Five minutes later, myself and Brennan (an amazing musician from our DTS) pulled together our rendition. It was very neat.